This major air carrier is about to launch Sacramento to Hawaii flights. But to which island?

Southwest Airlines announced this week it has finally gotten its long-sought federal approval to begin flights to Hawaii – including from Sacramento – and said it will make an announcement in the coming days on when those flights will launch.

Southwest announced more than year ago it intends to launch service from San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego, to four Hawaiian islands.

Southwest officials have not yet said how many flights it will run per day, and which islands it plans to fly to. That announcement is about to come, though.

In a statement issued this week, Southwest said the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized Southwest to operate ETOPS or Extended Operations flights “that, among other potential routes, technically will allow us to serve Hawaii, a previously announced intention.”

“We have teams now finalizing our plans to offer service to Hawaii, and we’ll publicly announce our timing for inaugural flights and other service when we publish our schedule in the coming days.”

Alaska and Hawaiian airlines currently fly to Hawaii from Sacramento. Sacramento International Airport officials say they expect the Southwest flights will help lower overall fares to Hawaii, and could mean flights to new islands.

This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 4:21 PM.